Uncertainty ahead of SPL vote

SCOTTISH football faces heightened uncertainty ahead of today’s Scottish Premier League vote on a newco Rangers application after a meeting of Scottish Football League clubs broke up with little indication of the prospects of a compromise proposal or date for a potential follow-up meeting.

SCOTTISH football faces heightened uncertainty ahead of today’s Scottish Premier League vote on a newco Rangers application after a meeting of Scottish Football League clubs broke up with little indication of the prospects of a compromise proposal or date for a potential follow-up meeting.

Seven SPL clubs had previously confirmed their opposition to a newco admission but only St Johnstone reaffirmed their position today after Ibrox chief executive Charles Green claimed he was confident clubs would listen to his pleas over the impact of rejection.

And Motherwell announced that 82% of Well Society members and shareholders had voted against the Rangers bid in a ballot. The club had previously stated that the ballot would be “used to determine which way the club votes”.

Newco Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray issued an apology for the distress caused to Scottish football by those in charge of the old company, one of six concessions reported to be part of Green’s plan to persuade SPL clubs to perform a mass U-turn.

Green needs seven other clubs as well as Rangers to vote his way.

Although the likes of East Fife, Stranraer and Stirling Albion came out against the idea of the new company entering the Irn-Bru First Division before the meeting, SPL clubs will go into today’s vote with little indication over how a subsequent vote would go.

The meeting was designed for the chief executives of the SFL, SPL and Scottish Football Association to furnish the 30 clubs with information to back up the claims in the document sent out to members last week.